Credits earned towards a player's rank can be used to purchase various armor permutations from the Armory. Players can view some additional armor that they can't purchase at their current rank.

Playing online is the fastest way for players to earn Credits in either Campaign, Matchmaking, Custom Games, Forge, and Firefight. If an account has not been connected to Xbox LIVE, however, credits earned in any mode are significantly reduced from those awarded for playing online. Also, when playing online, you have access to challenges, the slot machine, and super jackpot weekend.

Rank

Insignia

Required no. of cR

Changes

Recruit

0 cR

Initial rank

Private

7,500 cR(+7,500 cR)

Symbol turns bronze

Corporal

10,000 cR(+2,500 cR)

Adds second line

CorporalGrade 1

15,000 cR(+5,000 cR)

Adds third line

Sergeant

20,000 cR(+5,000 cR)

Complete change, now has a chevron facing down

SergeantGrade 1

26,250 cR(+6,250 cR)

Adds a diamond

SergeantGrade 2

32,500 cR(+6,250 cR)

Adds second chevron

Warrant Officer

45,000 cR(+12,500 cR)

Complete change, now has a chevron on a silver upside-down pentagon.

Warrant OfficerGrade 1

78,000 cR(+33,000 cR)

Adds diamond within pentagon and an external line

Warrant OfficerGrade 2

111,000 cR(+33,000 cR)

Adds a second external line

Warrant OfficerGrade 3

144,000 cR(+33,000 cR)

Adds a second chevron

Captain

210,000 cR(+66,000 cR)

Reverts to previous Warrant Officer icon, only now has a black background with a star

CaptainGrade 1

233,000 cR(+23,000 cR)

Adds chevron

CaptainGrade 2

256,000 cR(+23,000 cR)

Adds second chevron

CaptainGrade 3

279,000 cR(+23,000 cR)

Adds line on top on main symbol

Major

325,000 cR(+46,000 cR)

Complete change, now has a silver star with a line

MajorGrade 1

350,000 cR(+25,000 cR)

Adds second line

MajorGrade 2

375,000 cR(+25,000 cR)

Adds third line

MajorGrade 3

400,000 cR(+25,000 cR)

Replaces lines with a second star

Lt. Colonel

450,000 cR(+50,000 cR)

Complete change, now a gold "L" with a star

Lt. ColonelGrade 1

480,000 cR(+30,000 cR)

Adds line below main symbol

Lt. ColonelGrade 2

510,000 cR(+30,000 cR)

Adds second line

Lt. ColonelGrade 3

540,000 cR(+30,000 cR)

Lines removed, now appears as "IL"

Commander

600,000 cR(+60,000 cR)

"I" is moved to the right

CommanderGrade 1

650,000 cR(+50,000 cR)

Adds line below main symbol

CommanderGrade 2

700,000 cR(+50,000 cR)

Adds second line

CommanderGrade 3 (halowaypoint.com Version)

750,000 cR(+50,000 cR)

Adds "wings" to the main symbol

CommanderGrade 3 (In game Version)

750,000 cR(+50,000 cR)

Adds "wings" to the main symbol and removes the double lines from below

Colonel

850,000 cR(+100,000 cR)

Complete change, now has a star with a chevron pointing down and two smaller chevrons facing each other from left to right

ColonelGrade 1

960,000 cR(+110,000 cR)

Adds an upward chevron above main symbol

ColonelGrade 2

1,070,000 cR(+110,000 cR)

Adds second chevron above the Grade 1 symbol.

ColonelGrade 3

1,180,000 cR(+110,000 cR)

Replaces chevrons on the bottom with one below the first downward chevron

Brigadier

1,400,000 cR(+220,000 cR)

Complete change, now has a star with wings

BrigadierGrade 1

1,520,000 cR(+120,000 cR)

Adds line below main symbol

BrigadierGrade 2

1,640,000 cR(+120,000 cR)

Adds second line

BrigadierGrade 3

1,760,000 cR(+120,000 cR)

Adds third line

General

2,000,000 cR(+240,000 cR)

Complete change, now has the Noble Team symbol in front of a silver wreath.

GeneralGrade 1

2,200,000 cR(+200,000 cR)

Adds a diamond to top of main symbol

GeneralGrade 2

2,350,000 cR(+150,000 cR)

Adds a second diamond

GeneralGrade 3

2,500,000 cR(+150,000 cR)

Adds a third diamond

GeneralGrade 4

2,650,000 cR(+150,000 cR)

Replaces the diamonds with a crown

Field Marshall

3,000,000 cR(+350,000 cR)

Near complete change, replaces the Noble Team symbol with a silver skull, keeps the silver wreath

Hero

3,700,000 cR(+700,000 cR)

Entire symbol turns gold

Legend

4,600,000 cR(+900,000 cR)

Skull is now flaming, with a red star in the center.

Mythic

5,650,000 cR(+1,050,000 cR)

Complete change, now shows a waxing moon

Noble

7,000,000 cR(+1,350,000 cR)

Moon becomes full

Eclipse

8,500,000 cR(+1,500,000 cR)

Complete change, now shows a solar eclipse

Nova

11,000,000 cR(+2,500,000 cR)

Black becomes orange

Forerunner

13,000,000 cR(+2,000,000 cR)

Complete change, now is a black hexagon with a star

Reclaimer

16,500,000 cR(+3,500,000 cR)

Replaces star with diamond (Penultimate rank)

Inheritor

20,000,000 cR(+3,500,000 cR)

Replaces diamond with a comet, complete with stars (Final rank)

Trivia

The Commander Grade 3 images above have no difference between them other than purely aesthetic, it's just that the first is only able to be viewed on the Bungie.net website

To get 100% armory completion, you have to be 60% through Eclipse.

The GUNGNIR helmet's last attachment is available at the Mythic rank. It is the second to last helmet attachment available to buy (the Security helmet requires the rank of General, which is the last helmet found in the Armory - the last helmet attachment found in the Armory is for the Pilot helmet, which is known as Haunted).

The Haunted helmet is available to Bungie employees at any rank but players can only obtain it once they purchase all helmets and reach the Inheritor rank.

Through the Make A Wish foundation, the Haunted helmet has been given out to a select few non-Bungie employees whom have not yet reached the Inheritor rank. These have been special gifts to sick, disabled, and terminally ill kids who love to play Halo: Reach.

Players can see the Haunted attachment at Reclaimer, but still cannot unlock it until Inheritor.[2]

Captain is the hardest rank to achieve until you reach Commander Grade 3.

The ranks after Lt. Colonel Grade 3 were unlocked on November 2, 2010 after the Halo: Reach community completed 117 million daily and weekly challenges combined.

The Slot Machine reward was substantially increased on January 7, 2011, allowing for faster progression through the ranks.

The daily credit limit was lifted from 120,000 to 200,000 in late January 2012.

The higher your rank, the more credits you earn from the Game Complete reward (note that Game Complete is based on your current rank, the length of the game, and progression within the game - i.e. wave(FF)/round(MP) number when the game ended).

There are a total of 50 ranks available in Halo: Reach. The first is Recruit and the last rank is Inheritor. The 7 rank symbols (44 - 50) reference the 7 rank symbols of Halo 2 (44 - 50).[3]

If you add all the stars together in every rank insignia that includes stars, they add up to 28, a possible 7 reference (7x4=28)

Assuming an average progression in commendations & challenges, one needs to play approximately 9,000 games in Matchmaking to reach the rank of Inheritor.

The insignia for Commander Grade 3 in-game is different than what is shown on the Bungie.net profile of someone who's achieved this rank. The insignia shown in the above table is the Bungie.net insignia; in-game, it is missing the double bars on the base.

Players can obtain Inheritor rank in approximately 3 months by hitting their credit cap every single day.

Field Marshall would be the last official military rank, as it represents a 5-star general; some players refer to it as General Grade 5.

All ranks after Field Marshal are either titles of glory, astronomic events, or a Halo reference, such as Reclaimer.

Super Jackpots have been added to all matchmaking playlists in the final two weeks before Halo 4 is released, and they were made much more frequent.[4]